ct lint: add --ignore-ci-changes flag to skip version bump

ct/cmd/lint.go

@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ func addLintFlags(flags *flag.FlagSet) {
 		Enable linting of 'Chart.yaml' and values files`))
 	flags.Bool("skip-helm-dependencies", false, heredoc.Doc(`
 		Skip running 'helm dependency build' before linting`))
+	flags.Bool("ignore-ci-changes", false, "If set, changes only in the chart's 'ci' directory will not trigger a chart version bump requirement")
 	flags.StringSlice("additional-commands", []string{}, heredoc.Doc(`
 		Additional commands to run per chart (default: [])
 		Commands will be executed in the same order as provided in the list and will

doc/ct_lint-and-install.md

@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ ct lint-and-install [flags]
                                              (e.g. 'myrepo=--username test --password secret'). May be specified
                                              multiple times or separate values with commas
   -h, --help                                 help for lint-and-install
+      --ignore-ci-changes                    If set, changes only in the chart's 'ci' directory will not trigger a chart version bump requirement
       --lint-conf string                     The config file for YAML linting. If not specified, 'lintconf.yaml'
                                              is searched in the current directory, '$HOME/.ct', and '/etc/ct', in
                                              that order

doc/ct_lint.md

@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ ct lint [flags]
                                              (e.g. 'myrepo=--username test --password secret'). May be specified
                                              multiple times or separate values with commas
   -h, --help                                 help for lint
+      --ignore-ci-changes                    If set, changes only in the chart's 'ci' directory will not trigger a chart version bump requirement
       --lint-conf string                     The config file for YAML linting. If not specified, 'lintconf.yaml'
                                              is searched in the current directory, '$HOME/.ct', and '/etc/ct', in
                                              that order

pkg/chart/chart.go

@@ -307,9 +307,9 @@ func (t *Testing) computePreviousRevisionPath(fileOrDirPath string) string {
 	return filepath.Join(t.previousRevisionWorktree, fileOrDirPath)
 }
 
-func (t *Testing) processCharts(action func(chart *Chart) TestResult) ([]TestResult, error) {
+func (t *Testing) processCharts(action func(chart *Chart, ciOnly bool) TestResult) ([]TestResult, error) {
 	var results []TestResult // nolint: prealloc
-	chartDirs, err := t.FindChartDirsToBeProcessed()
+	chartDirs, ciOnlyCharts, err := t.findChartDirsToBeProcessed()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed identifying charts to process: %w", err)
 	} else if len(chartDirs) == 0 {
@@ -408,7 +408,8 @@ func (t *Testing) processCharts(action func(chart *Chart) TestResult) ([]TestRes
 			}
 		}
 
-		result := action(chart)
+		_, ciOnly := ciOnlyCharts[chart.Path()]
+		result := action(chart, ciOnly)
 		if result.Error != nil {
 			testResults.OverallSuccess = false
 		}
@@ -423,17 +424,19 @@ func (t *Testing) processCharts(action func(chart *Chart) TestResult) ([]TestRes
 
 // LintCharts lints charts (changed, all, specific) depending on the configuration.
 func (t *Testing) LintCharts() ([]TestResult, error) {
-	return t.processCharts(t.LintChart)
+	return t.processCharts(t.lintChart)
 }
 
 // InstallCharts install charts (changed, all, specific) depending on the configuration.
 func (t *Testing) InstallCharts() ([]TestResult, error) {
-	return t.processCharts(t.InstallChart)
+	return t.processCharts(func(chart *Chart, _ bool) TestResult {
+		return t.InstallChart(chart)
+	})
 }
 
 // LintAndInstallCharts first lints and then installs charts (changed, all, specific) depending on the configuration.
 func (t *Testing) LintAndInstallCharts() ([]TestResult, error) {
-	return t.processCharts(t.LintAndInstallChart)
+	return t.processCharts(t.lintAndInstallChart)
 }
 
 // PrintResults writes test results to stdout.
@@ -465,12 +468,18 @@ func (t *Testing) PrintResults(results []TestResult) {
 
 // LintChart lints the specified chart.
 func (t *Testing) LintChart(chart *Chart) TestResult {
+	return t.lintChart(chart, false)
+}
+
+func (t *Testing) lintChart(chart *Chart, ciOnly bool) TestResult {
 	fmt.Printf("Linting chart %q\n", chart)
 
 	result := TestResult{Chart: chart}
 
 	if t.config.CheckVersionIncrement {
-		if err := t.CheckVersionIncrement(chart); err != nil {
+		if ciOnly {
+			fmt.Printf("Skipping version increment check for %q because only 'ci' directory files changed\n", chart)
+		} else if err := t.CheckVersionIncrement(chart); err != nil {
 			result.Error = err
 			return result
 		}
@@ -713,7 +722,11 @@ func (t *Testing) generateInstallConfig(chart *Chart) (namespace, release, relea
 
 // LintAndInstallChart first lints and then installs the specified chart.
 func (t *Testing) LintAndInstallChart(chart *Chart) TestResult {
-	result := t.LintChart(chart)
+	return t.lintAndInstallChart(chart, false)
+}
+
+func (t *Testing) lintAndInstallChart(chart *Chart, ciOnly bool) TestResult {
+	result := t.lintChart(chart, ciOnly)
 	if result.Error != nil {
 		return result
 	}
@@ -723,13 +736,19 @@ func (t *Testing) LintAndInstallChart(chart *Chart) TestResult {
 // FindChartDirsToBeProcessed identifies charts to be processed depending on the configuration
 // (changed charts, all charts, or specific charts).
 func (t *Testing) FindChartDirsToBeProcessed() ([]string, error) {
+	dirs, _, err := t.findChartDirsToBeProcessed()
+	return dirs, err
+}
+
+func (t *Testing) findChartDirsToBeProcessed() ([]string, map[string]struct{}, error) {
 	cfg := t.config
 	if cfg.ProcessAllCharts {
-		return t.ReadAllChartDirectories()
+		dirs, err := t.ReadAllChartDirectories()
+		return dirs, nil, err
 	} else if len(cfg.Charts) > 0 {
-		return t.config.Charts, nil
+		return cfg.Charts, nil, nil
 	}
-	return t.ComputeChangedChartDirectories()
+	return t.computeChangedChartDirectories()
 }
 
 func (t *Testing) computeMergeBase() (string, error) {
@@ -749,16 +768,23 @@ func (t *Testing) computeMergeBase() (string, error) {
 // ComputeChangedChartDirectories takes the merge base of HEAD and the configured remote and target branch and computes a
 // slice of changed charts from that in the configured chart directories excluding those configured to be excluded.
 func (t *Testing) ComputeChangedChartDirectories() ([]string, error) {
+	dirs, _, err := t.computeChangedChartDirectories()
+	return dirs, err
+}
+
+// computeChangedChartDirectories is the internal implementation that also returns
+// a set of chart directories where only files in the 'ci' directory changed.
+func (t *Testing) computeChangedChartDirectories() ([]string, map[string]struct{}, error) {
 	cfg := t.config
 
 	mergeBase, err := t.computeMergeBase()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 
 	allChangedChartFiles, err := t.git.ListChangedFilesInDirs(mergeBase, cfg.ChartDirs...)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed creating diff: %w", err)
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed creating diff: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	changedChartFiles := map[string][]string{}
@@ -784,28 +810,49 @@ func (t *Testing) ComputeChangedChartDirectories() ([]string, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	changedChartDirs := []string{}
+	// Apply helmignore filtering
 	if t.config.UseHelmignore {
-		for chartDir, changedChartFiles := range changedChartFiles {
+		for chartDir, files := range changedChartFiles {
 			rules, err := t.loadRules(chartDir)
 			if err != nil {
-				return nil, err
+				return nil, nil, err
 			}
-			filteredChartFiles, err := ignore.FilterFiles(changedChartFiles, rules)
+			filteredFiles, err := ignore.FilterFiles(files, rules)
 			if err != nil {
-				return nil, err
+				return nil, nil, err
 			}
-			if len(filteredChartFiles) > 0 {
-				changedChartDirs = append(changedChartDirs, chartDir)
+			if len(filteredFiles) > 0 {
+				changedChartFiles[chartDir] = filteredFiles
+			} else {
+				delete(changedChartFiles, chartDir)
 			}
 		}
-	} else {
-		for chartDir := range changedChartFiles {
-			changedChartDirs = append(changedChartDirs, chartDir)
+	}
+
+	// Detect charts where only 'ci' directory files changed (after helmignore filtering)
+	var ciOnlyCharts map[string]struct{}
+	if cfg.IgnoreCIChanges {
+		ciOnlyCharts = make(map[string]struct{})
+		for chartDir, files := range changedChartFiles {
+			allCI := true
+			for _, f := range files {
+				if !strings.HasPrefix(filepath.ToSlash(f), "ci/") {
+					allCI = false
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			if allCI {
+				ciOnlyCharts[chartDir] = struct{}{}
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
-	return changedChartDirs, nil
+	changedChartDirs := make([]string, 0, len(changedChartFiles))
+	for chartDir := range changedChartFiles {
+		changedChartDirs = append(changedChartDirs, chartDir)
+	}
+
+	return changedChartDirs, ciOnlyCharts, nil
 }
 
 // ReadAllChartDirectories returns a slice of all charts in the configured chart directories except those

pkg/chart/chart_test.go

@@ -75,6 +75,19 @@ func (g fakeGit) BranchExists(_ string) bool {
 	return true
 }
 
+type fakeGitCIOnlyChanges struct{ fakeGit }
+
+func (g fakeGitCIOnlyChanges) Show(_ string, _ string, _ string) (string, error) {
+	return "name: test\nversion: 1.0.0\n", nil
+}
+
+func (g fakeGitCIOnlyChanges) ListChangedFilesInDirs(_ string, _ ...string) ([]string, error) {
+	return []string{
+		"test_charts/foo/ci/test-values.yaml",
+		"test_charts/bar/Chart.yaml",
+	}, nil
+}
+
 type fakeAccountValidator struct{}
 
 func (v fakeAccountValidator) Validate(_ string, account string) error {
@@ -227,6 +240,78 @@ func TestComputeChangedChartDirectoriesWithMultiLevelChartWithHelmIgnore(t *test
 	assert.ElementsMatch(t, expected, actual)
 }
 
+func TestComputeChangedChartDirectoriesIgnoreCIChanges(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := config.Configuration{
+		ExcludedCharts:  []string{"excluded"},
+		ChartDirs:       []string{"test_charts", "."},
+		IgnoreCIChanges: true,
+	}
+	ct := newTestingMock(cfg)
+	ct.git = fakeGitCIOnlyChanges{}
+	actual, err := ct.ComputeChangedChartDirectories()
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+	// Both charts are still returned — CI-only charts are not excluded from change detection
+	assert.ElementsMatch(t, []string{"test_charts/foo", "test_charts/bar"}, actual)
+}
+
+func TestLintChartsIgnoreCIChanges(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := config.Configuration{
+		ExcludedCharts:        []string{"excluded"},
+		ChartDirs:             []string{"test_charts"},
+		IgnoreCIChanges:       true,
+		CheckVersionIncrement: true,
+		SkipHelmDependencies:  true,
+	}
+	ct := newTestingMock(cfg)
+	ct.git = fakeGitCIOnlyChanges{}
+
+	results, err := ct.LintCharts()
+	// bar fails version check, so overall error is returned
+	assert.NotNil(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, results, 2)
+
+	for _, result := range results {
+		switch result.Chart.Path() {
+		case "test_charts/foo":
+			// CI-only: version check skipped, lint passes
+			assert.Nil(t, result.Error)
+		case "test_charts/bar":
+			// Non-CI-only: version check runs and fails (fakeGit returns old version 1.0.0)
+			assert.NotNil(t, result.Error)
+		default:
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected chart: %s", result.Chart.Path())
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestLintChartsVersionCheckWithoutIgnoreCIChanges(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := config.Configuration{
+		ExcludedCharts:        []string{"excluded"},
+		ChartDirs:             []string{"test_charts"},
+		IgnoreCIChanges:       false,
+		CheckVersionIncrement: true,
+		SkipHelmDependencies:  true,
+	}
+	ct := newTestingMock(cfg)
+	ct.git = fakeGitCIOnlyChanges{}
+
+	results, err := ct.LintCharts()
+	assert.NotNil(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, results, 2)
+
+	for _, result := range results {
+		switch result.Chart.Path() {
+		case "test_charts/foo":
+			// Without --ignore-ci-changes, CI-only chart still gets version-checked and fails
+			assert.NotNil(t, result.Error)
+		case "test_charts/bar":
+			assert.NotNil(t, result.Error)
+		default:
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected chart: %s", result.Chart.Path())
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestReadAllChartDirectories(t *testing.T) {
 	actual, err := ct.ReadAllChartDirectories()
 	expected := []string{

pkg/config/config.go

@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ type Configuration struct {
 	PrintLogs               bool          `mapstructure:"print-logs"`
 	GithubGroups            bool          `mapstructure:"github-groups"`
 	UseHelmignore           bool          `mapstructure:"use-helmignore"`
+	IgnoreCIChanges         bool          `mapstructure:"ignore-ci-changes"`
 }
 
 func LoadConfiguration(cfgFile string, cmd *cobra.Command, printConfig bool) (*Configuration, error) {

pkg/config/config_test.go

@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ func loadAndAssertConfigFromFile(t *testing.T, configFile string) {
 	require.Equal(t, 120*time.Second, cfg.KubectlTimeout)
 	require.Equal(t, true, cfg.SkipCleanUp)
 	require.Equal(t, true, cfg.UseHelmignore)
+	require.Equal(t, true, cfg.IgnoreCIChanges)
 }
 
 func Test_findConfigFile(t *testing.T) {

pkg/config/test_config.json

@@ -33,5 +33,6 @@
     "exclude-deprecated": true,
     "kubectl-timeout": "120s",
     "skip-clean-up": true,
-    "use-helmignore": true
+    "use-helmignore": true,
+    "ignore-ci-changes": true
 }

pkg/config/test_config.yaml

@@ -29,3 +29,4 @@ exclude-deprecated: true
 kubectl-timeout: 120s
 skip-clean-up: true
 use-helmignore: true
+ignore-ci-changes: true